Agar.io
| platforms = Browser, Android, iOS | released = Browser 28 April 2015 Android, iOS 24 July 2015 | genre = Action | modes = Multiplayer | designer = Matheus Valadares }} Agar.io ).}} is a massively multiplayer online action game created by Matheus Valadares. Players control a cell in a map representing a petri dish. The goal is to gain as much mass as possible by eating agar and cells smaller than the player's cell while avoiding larger ones which can eat the player's cell(s). The name comes from the substance agar, used to culture bacteria. The game was released to positive critical reception; critics particularly praised its simplicity, competition, and mechanics, while criticism targeted its repetitive gameplay. Largely due to word of mouth on social networks, it was a quick success, becoming one of the most popular web and mobile games in its first year. A Steam version was announced on 3 May 2015 (though never released as of 2018), and the mobile version of Agar.io for iOS and Android was released on 24 July 2015 by Miniclip. Gameplay , an Internet meme. ]] The objective of Agar.io is to grow a cell on a petri dish by swallowing both randomly generated pellets (agar), which slightly increases a cell's mass, and smaller cells, without being swallowed by larger cells. The browser version currently holds four game modes: FFA (Free-For-All), Teams, Experimental and Party. The mobile version of the game includes FFA (Free-For-All) and Rush Mode. The goal of the game is to obtain the largest cell; players must restart when all their cells are eaten. Players can change their cell's appearance with predefined words, phrases, symbols or skins. The more mass a cell has, the slower it will move. Cells gradually lose a small amount of mass over time. Viruses are green, (red in Rush mode in the iOS mobile version) spiky circles that split large cells. Viruses are normally randomly generated, but can also be generated when receiving enough mass, to the point of splitting into two, hence creating a new virus. Players can split their cell into two, and one of the two evenly divided cells will be flung in the direction of the cursor. This can be used as a ranged attack to shoot a cell in order to swallow other smaller cells or to escape an attack and move to move quickly around the map. Split cells eventually merge back into one cell. Aside from feeding viruses, players can release a small fraction of their mass to feed other cells, an action commonly recognized as an intention to team with another player. However, a small portion of the ejected mass is lost. Players can also spawn from ejected mass. A player can also eject mass to trick enemies into coming closer to the player. Development Agar.io was announced on 4chan on 27 April 2015 by Matheus Valadares, a 19-year-old Brazilian developer. Written in JavaScript and C++, the game was developed in a few days. The game originally did not have a name, and users had to connect to Valadares' IP address in order to play. The name Agar.io was suggested by an anonymous 4chan user, as other domain names such as cell.io were already taken. Valadares continued updating and adding new features to the game, such as an experience system and an "experimental" gamemode for testing experimental features. One week later, Agar.io entered Steam Greenlight with Valadares announcing a future free-to-play version of the game for download. He planned to include features in the Steam version not available in the browser version, including additional gamemodes, custom styling, and an account system. It was approved for listing on Steam due to community interest. However, the game was eventually removed from the Greenlight program (the Greenlight program its self shut down in 2016), and was never released. On 24 July 2015, Miniclip published a mobile version of Agar.io for iOS and Android. Sergio Varanda, head of mobile at Miniclip, explained that the main goal of the mobile version was to "recreate the gaming experience" on mobile, citing the challenges with recreating the game on touchscreen controls. Reception Agar.io was released to a positive critical reception. Particular praise was given to the simplicity, competition, and mechanics of the game. Engadget described the game as "a good abstraction of the fierce survival-of-the-fittest competition that you sometimes see on the microscopic level." Toucharcade praised its simplicity, strategic element, and "personality." Criticism was mainly targeted towards its repetitiveness and the controls of the mobile version. Tom Christiansen of Gamezebo was mixed on the game, saying that there was "nothing to hold my attention" and that it was "highly repetitive, overall." Pocket Gamer, reviewing the mobile version, described its controls as "floaty." Because it was frequently propagated through social media and broadcast on Twitch.tv and YouTube, Agar.io was a quick success. The agar.io website (for the browser version) was ranked by Alexa as one of the 1,000 most visited websites and the mobile versions were downloaded more than ten million times during their first week. During 2015, Agar.io was Google's most searched video game. It was Google's second-most searched game in the United States in 2016. Agar.io was featured (including some details of its gameplay as well as a shot of an actual game) in "Chapter 48" of Netflix TV-series House of Cards. Its gameplay was compared to the presidential campaigning. Use as a political soapbox During the campaigns of the June 2015 Turkish elections, Agar.io was used in Turkey as a medium of political advocacy; many players were naming their cells after Turkish political parties and references, with alliances formed between players with similar political views, battling against other players with opposing views. Some political parties have used Agar.io in campaign posters as a symbol of support. Similar games The success of Agar.io has inspired others to create Agar.io spin-offs, which includes Steve Howse, the developer of Slither.io who produced the game when he was experiencing financial problems and discovered the popularity of Agar.io. This eventually lead to the creation of the .io game genre. Some of these games include Airma.sh, Deeeep.io, Limax.io, Driftin.io, Vanar.io, Entro.space, Tiles.io, Boattle.io, Gunr.io, and Wings.io. ''Slither.io'' Slither.io ).}} is a massively multiplayer browser game developed by Steve Howse and inspired from Agar.io. Unlike Agar.io where players control a cell on a petri dish, they would instead control an worm-resembling avatar which consumes multicolored pellets, both from other players and ones that naturally spawn on the map in the game, to grow in size. The objective of the game is to grow the longest worm in the server. It is reminiscent of the classic arcade game Snake. The game grew in popularity following its promotion among several prominent YouTube users such as PewDiePie, and topped the App Store shortly after its release. The browser version of the game was ranked by Alexa as one of the 1,000 most visited sites by July 2016 , while the iOS version ranked first in the most downloaded apps on the App Store. A mobile version of the game for Android was released on March 27, 2016. Reception to the game was positive, with reviewers praising its appearance and customization but criticizing it for its low replay value and the high price users must pay to remove advertisements. ''Diep.io'' Diep.io is a massively multiplayer browser game developed by Matheus Valadares, based on Agar.io and released around the time of April 2016. The game first appeared on 4chan on April 23, 2016 (By then, the game was already released). In the game, players start as a tank in a variety of game modes, leveling up by destroying other tanks, shapes and other entities in-game to upgrade the player's statistics and into other tanks and dominate the server. It currently has 48 different tanks and 8 different game modes to choose from. Ever since May 18, 2016, the game has a "changelog" on the top-left corner of the screen which states the latest updates added to the game. The mobile version of Diep.io for both iOS and Android was released on June 20, 2016 and published by Miniclip. The game has had a generally positive reception, with praised game play but was criticized for "lacking key features that would have made it better" unlike other casual games. ''EatMe.io'' EatMe.io is an action-based massively multiplayer online game developed by Junglee Games, which was released on December 2016 and part of the .io type of games. In the game, players begin as a small fish and must eat food and other fishes to gain mass. Other players' attacks can be escaped via splitting or hiding behind stun bombs. Players are required to increase in their level to unlock new fish and evolve into other forms of fishes. More fishes with unique or special skills are unlockable throughout the game as the player progresses. Upon the release of EatMe.io, the CMO of Junglee Games commented, “EatMe.io is a fresh and innovative game that emphasizes on the battle of survival, deep in the ocean with one simple rule: Munch or become someone else’s lunch! Each battle is limited to two minutes and the player who has eaten the most number of fish, tops the leaderboard. The best part about the game is that you can play with as many players as you want, and challenge them into an underwater clash of jaws to eventually emerge as the king of the virtual ocean.” The game had also been described to be a "twist" to the genre of .io games by "taking the multiplayer action to the aquatic kingdom." Noutis Riförènses }} Ikstörnol liŋk * * Category:2015 video games Category:Action video games Category:Android (operating system) games Category:Browser games Category:Free-to-play video games Category:IOS games Category:Multiplayer video games Category:Video games developed in Brazil Category:Casual games Category:Social casual gaming Category:Babyish encyclopedia Category:Onlain geim